When to play swain?

[quote=Fluffyknowsyou]So there's a few questions I'd like to ask anyone who understands swain or successfully mains him when playing mid. Question 1: Is swain viable as a bot or top in certain situations? I've been playing a lot of swain, some pub matches and others panic picks in ranked. In pubs I've been testing out swain's power without cs by basically focusing on harass while my lane partner farms. Surprisingly with lil help from ap runes I've been consistently able to burst down the ad carry or whoever I've been laning against. Heck in certain instances when my teams were doing well, I was at 36 cs and carrying teamfights. Though I must admit there are many games where being in duo lanes has proved problematic simply because my opponent escapes literally with 15 hp or something. So I'm not the big bad badass I thought I was because my lane opponents get rather defensive or they push hard to use the minions to zone me. As for top I was wondering how well it would work. I know being swain leaves me rather kiteable unlesss I use well timed flashes to escape ganks. In addition to this he's kinda slow so teleport may be a necessity in top. But on the other hand swain seems perfect for top because he has mana sustain from last hits, generally builds a catalyst for level up sustain, and only needs mana pots if it ever comes down to that. The main thing I want to hear in this regard is whether or not being top would be good or bad, if so why or why not. ((I have a hunch it's because swain can't carry as hard as abruiser or tank as hard as a cho)) Question 2: when to pick swain for mid? Having a hard time discerning who hard counters swain due to good and bad games for me and my opponents. If its possible I'd like to know with all else equal, who would wreck swain in mid.[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]Swain is a decent pick most of the time. Mid lane he wins against champs like Kennen and Vlad. He also plays top as a counter to some melee champs too. Duo lane, nope. He works best alone. Also, as long as you can force an important escape, you've done your job for later.[/quote]

[quote=samgoeslol]on toplane being kiteable is rarely a problems ince most toplaners are short ranged/melee. HotshotGG plays swain toplane and he does so with good results. Botlane swain is something i would have to try, but does sound okay for a pressure support. Maybe try swain as csing botlane with something that can set him ups for an easy w like janna, taric or something similar[/quote]

[quote=Fluffyknowsyou]Hm thanks for the insight, I'll keep that in mind and maybe watch a few of hotshot's solo top games. luiginaf what did you mean by important escape[/quote]

[quote=Lugignaf]If you can force Vlad to pool early on with some random aggression, you're good for a jungler gank soon after. If you force Kennen to lightning rush, you're good for a jungler gank. If you force Fizz to troll-pole, you're good for a gank soon. If you force anyone to flash, good job. See where this is going?[/quote]

[quote=samgoeslol]if people run away, most of the time you did your job with swain is what both of us are saying xD[/quote]

[quote=Fluffyknowsyou]HAHAHAHA I understand now, that's pretty common when I play swain. It makes the lane phase nerve wracking because of the jungle and boring because there's no more exchanges. :/[/quote]